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John Joseph Gill. Birminghan City Council

Relatives of Irishman who died in England tracked down following 'last opportunity' appeal

There are two living siblings of the late John Joseph Gill, as well as three nieces and nephews.

THE RELATIVES OF an Irishman who died in England last month have been tracked down following a ‘last opportunity’ appeal for information on his next of kin.

John Joseph Gill died in the Orchard House nursing home in Birmingham on 25 November.

He was in residential and nursing homes from the beginning of 2008 until his death last month.

Yesterday, Birmingham City Council’s Ian Coxhead told RTÉ that “we’re reaching the point where for the dignity and respect towards Gill, that probably this is the last opportunity really” to locate his family.

But speaking on RTÉ’s News at One today, Erin Research’s Managing Director Padraic Grennan revealed that he has successfully made contact with Gill’s relatives.

Erin Research is an Irish probate genealogy firm and Grennan said he came across a social media post a couple of days ago seeking assistance in locating Gill’s family.

Grennan told RTÉ that he decided to look into the case on a “purely pro bono basis to see could we help out”.

He said he “realised pretty early on that the information provided by the (Birmingham City) Council was actually inaccurate”.

Birmingham City Council believed Gill to have been born in Co Roscommon on 31 August, 1936.

But Grennan discovered that Gill was actually born in Devlin in Co Westmeath and that the birth certificate was a day out.

“We looked at a couple of potential birth certificates that match Gill’s,” explained Grennan, “and we found one that was a day out, but it was actually in Delvin, Co Westmeath.

“So we went with that and researched it and figured out pretty early on that once we had the birth certificate, we could unravel the family tree and work on trying to find his next of kin.”

Grennan described the birth certificate as the “root” to allow Erin Research to begin its work.

From Gill’s birth certificate, Erin Research were able to find the marriage certificate of Gill’s parents.

“Then we could look for siblings of Gill or other children of that marriage,” said Grennan, “and we identified seven different children in total, including John Gill.

“So at that stage then it was simply a case of trying to ascertain whether these people are alive or deceased.”

There are two living siblings of Gill, as well as three nieces and nephews.

Grennan said he spoke with a brother of Gill’s in Canada yesterday evening, and that he “basically verified all of the information that we had”.

Grennan also spoke with a niece of Gill’s and revealed that “ironically” she is also in Birmingham.

“You can imagine her surprise when she learned that her estranged uncle lived only a stone’s throw from her, and she didn’t even know he was there.”

Speaking yesterday, Ian Coxhead of Birmingham City Council said that Gill had expressed a wish to be buried.

Grennan said he is in the process of sharing the next of kin’s details with the council.

He added: “I understand the council is registering the death formally next Tuesday, which means they can proceed with the burial and it’s nice to be able to say we will at least have some family members there for Mr Gill when he gets his send off.”

When asked why Erin Research became involved in the case, Grennan said: “When I saw the last appeal out… this is an Irishman abroad who could have ended up in what’s known as a pauper’s grave.

“So we decided to have a look purely on a pro bono basis to see could we help out, and thankfully from our perspective it wasn’t a difficult case and we were able to find somebody pretty quickly.”

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    Mute Tricia G ☘️
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    Jun 16th 2022, 11:16 AM

    His SECOND ethics adviser to resign.

    When the first line of your job description is to remind an inveterate liar not to lie, you’re unlikely to be in your position for the very long…..

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    Mute E.J. Murray
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    Jun 16th 2022, 12:29 PM

    Someone resigns, and as usual it isn’t Johnson.

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    Mute Declan Moran
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    Jun 16th 2022, 12:05 PM

    Bojo & ethics, don’t really go hand in hand really :). Bit of an oxymoron

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    Mute Buzz Killington
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    Jun 16th 2022, 1:08 PM

    @Declan Moran: Nah, just a moron.

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    Mute Steve O'Hara-Smith
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    Jun 16th 2022, 2:15 PM

    @Buzz Killington: If only he was, sadly he’s a very clever but odious person.

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    Jun 16th 2022, 2:34 PM

    @Steve O’Hara-Smith: A clever but odious mor0n so…

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    Mute Kevin Farrell
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    Jun 16th 2022, 3:04 PM

    @Declan Moran: Or even an Oxford Moron!!!!

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    Mute Niall O'Reilly
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    Jun 16th 2022, 1:51 PM

    Johnson heads up a cabinet of rogues and expects the accolades for holding the highest office of UK government. A government happy to break the law. A government in cahoots with the DUP. A government of shady deals. Without principle. Without honesty. Working to benefit themselves and the tax evasion party they have taken over. When will the working people of England and Wales come to their senses and kick these racketeers out of government?

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    Jun 16th 2022, 2:31 PM

    @Niall O’Reilly: the General public in England are deluded. I live here and honestly the rubbish they believe is insane. They think brexit and the tories will bring back mass manufacturing to England and that they will produce all their own goods. All the while the tories are tearing apart what’s left of the manufacturing and slowly privatise the NHS.
    It’s hard to know when working class England will wake up, but I think when they do it will be too late.

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    Mute E.J. Murray
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    Jun 16th 2022, 3:40 PM

    @Aaron Tynan: — The propaganda machine is the only thing that’s working over there, and has been fully operational since before the referendum. Everyone I know over there voted for Brexit, and one of them who works in the NHS voted Brexit because she was convinced that the EU was going to destroy the NHS. I pointed out to her, after she voted, that people in the know had already named the people who were out to destroy the NHS, and that those people were members of the Tory Party, and that the EU had no intention of bringing the NHS to its knees. All in all, they think Johnson’s a great fella altogether, and don’t seem to realise that he despises most of the “converts” who decided to vote Tory after decades of voting Labour.

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